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[Dave wants to protect her from the effects of whatever it is. He's worried that she'll experience something just as strange or maybe something worse. It's understandable. Why would you willingly subject your siblings to an unknown phenomenon? What if it's worse than either of them anticipate it to be--?

Rose rests her hand upon his. She lets the weight of it rest there.]

I'll be fine.

[Her voice brooks no argument. Regardless of how strange it may be, she's confident that she won't freak out. Even if it happened, Dave won't be to blame. She's stubborn about that.]

How many times did this happen to you? How quickly did each hallucination come?

[ dave turns his hand over under rose's, lacing their fingers together on automatic. he's not as touchy-feely as, say, roxy? but he's more than comfortable with his siblings being in his space and sharing it. and maybe the offered comfort is necessary. ]

Twice. [ unless i go drop in a request WHICH I WILL SHORTLY MAYBE. ] With Jade, we were just sitting there. And we both independently had a little moment with our brains havin' an acrobatic pirouette off the handle of sanity? Then Bro and I were just talkin' and he had a moment like that, followed by tellin' me about it, which...led to me havin' a moment, and then I told him about that and then he had another moment.

[ ... ]

It was really fuckin' stupid and those ones happened all one after the other really quick. But that was hours after Jade and I had our whatever. [ he's stalling and he knows he is and maybe he understands the part where dirk might try to protect him from this in the future. still, he'll answer rose, because she asked and he trusts her more than anyone else and she's the strongest person he knows: ]

The second thing, the one you were at. It was...weird as fuck. It was like, all rainbows and hyperactive bullshit. Everyone looked weird? Except you. You looked nice, you were in a tuxedo. But Bro's hair was like bright orange and he looked - ok he looked really calm and stoic but everyone else looked like they were high on life, and by life I mean drugs, and Rox had like teal hair and everyone was wearing candy as accessories and they all had maniacal grins - except Bro, he was chill - and we were liftin' you up on like, a chair? I think it was a wedding. Your wedding? You were in a tuxedo??

[ he's not sure if this is better or worse than the crocodiles. it feels worse, if only because hallucinating your sister's hypothetical drugged out wedding is possibly really fucking sappy and that might make it Worse on automatic. maybe dave is sappy, maybe that's true, but having to doxx himself on it will never not be terrible? ]

I think it's possible I'm goin' crazy, except Jade and Dirk are too so I'm not sure that's exactly it. Are mass hallucinations that happen all at different times a thing?

[Neither of them are really touchy-feely when it comes to affection. They're siblings but they're not the sort to exchange frequent hugs or to the like. But Rose knows when to offer it. Dave is talking about some messed up stuff -- and who knows? It may happen to her soon, judging by how quickly it spreads.]

... my wedding?

[Something is niggling at the back of her mind. She can't quite place the feeling, but--

Her grip on Dave's hand tightens, but her voice remains steady.]

Is there anything else you remember about that-- hallucination?

[ dave squeezes rose's hand, not sure what she's thinking but offering the dubious comfort of the fact he's right there. he tries to think back to the maybe-memory and probably-drugs, sifting through for any details he didn't get across. ]

Oh, Jake was there, too. And a few other people I didn't recognize. A girl with gray skin and horns in a dress.

[ but after a second, he has to shrug. ]

That's basically it. It was pretty short - I mean, I remember being really stupid happy, like weirdly so, but that's about it.

[This is what Rose is thinking: it's too fantastical, too otherworldly to buy into. But she believes him 100%. There's no reason for Dave to make these things up yet she can't piece together what it possibly means. If Dirk had a vision she has to grill him about what he saw. And--

That's as far as her thoughts get. She can hear Dave, but she isn't listening to him anymore. The air tastes heavy with rain, with the promise of a storm. The color of Dave's room fades, giving way to an ashen landscape -- there's the scent of alcohol and perfume and pine. The ground is wet.

There is a cat. It is wearing a suit. It looks incredibly expensive -- more expensive than anything she's ever worn.

Dave, of course, can't see what she's seeing. Rose isn't even aware of what she's doing. Her eyes are distant, as if she's zoning out.]

[ he can't see what she's seeing, but he's seen it happen to two people. jade and dirk. it's happened to him more than once - although it hasn't yet in this conversation - and he doesn't let go of her hand. there's worry on his face, muted in the same way a lot of things are expression-wise for him, but - ]

Rose?

[She hears him saying her name distantly, but the sound of his voice is warped. It morphs into an older woman's timbre, one that sounds strange yet awfully familiar for reasons she can't place--

And then it's over. One blink and the dreary landscape is swept away, vanished as if it were a wayward thought. The sensation of rain still fills her nostrils as does a heavy ache in the back of her throat. It feels like she almost wanted to cry, for some reason? Rose looks down at their hands, then back up at Dave.]

So.

[She's trying to string together a coherent and intelligent sentence.]

That's what you were talking about.

[NAILED IT]

Oh, shit.

[ like, he figured? but the confirmation sure is a thing. dave...proceeds not to let go of rose's hand. he will kind of awkwardly knock his shoulder into hers? this is step two of the sibling comfort echeladder, maybe. ]

Did you see the whole...sugar disaster, or somethin' else?

[this social bond is deepening to great heights. it's going up. it's soaring. it's gone. not even light itself can catch this motherfucker's empathy levels.

Jokes aside, Rose appreciates the gesture. It's not much, but at least it's something. She leans a little against his shoulder.]

It appears animals are a theme between us.

[...]

I saw a cat having a fancier funeral than I could ever hope to have.

Rose, I promise if you die I will throw you the fanciest fuckin' funeral in the universe. Immediately before losing it in the most acrobatic way possible, of course. I'll even fling myself on your casket. All fancy funerals need that one dude or dudette flinging themselves dramatically on a casket.

[ dave will up the ante and drop his head to her shoulder. wow. cooking with fire NOW. ]

So, what's your professional take on our weird-ass hallucinations, havin' had one of your very own?

[Okay, his stupid sense of humor is helping a little. She manages an amused scoff.]

I'd say we're going crazy but I'm certain we've already embraced that.

[She doesn't like it when she doesn't know things. Therefore--]

Any good psychologist would keep record of their patient's history. I suggest we begin one for ourselves -- a diary, of sorts.

[Clean, logical, understandable. It provides some comfort.]

Like, one diary? Are we doin' a crazy dream exchange diary. I hallucinate and lovingly write down the deets in pink glitter gel pen and sign the damn thing with twenty hearts and smiley faces and slide it under your pillow and you write all over my hallucinations with meticulous breakdowns of my psyche and notes on the logical structure of my write ups and then there's forty pages on one hallucination from you, sporadically sprinkled with wizardfic, boiling down to "fancy cat funeral"?

[ rose is comforted by a clearcut logical plan.

dave is comforted by absurdity. ]

[It makes sense. He prefers to say 'fuck this shit i'm out,' Rose prefers to say 'fuck off.']

I'll be providing fifty pages for your sass. My wizardfic is solely for my enjoyment. You don't deserve that privilege just yet.

You say that like I would seriously mind fifty pages of nonsense.

[ but. ]

So now you know what I meant by it felt real.

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